This lesson plan can be read in conjunction with “Chapter 1. Hope” (pp. 7-26) in the freely available teaching resource Coping: A Philosophical Guide (Open Book Publishers, 2021) with discussion questions (pp. 121-2) and additional teaching materials (p. 119). 

We will investigate two standard features of hope, namely, that when we hope for something, we consider it to be possible but not certain, and that we desire it. We will raise some critical questions about these standard features. We will then ask whether something more is needed before we can be said to hope, namely, that we imagine how nice it would be if our hopes were to come true. And finally, we explore how hope differs from other related concepts.

1. Possible but not Certain

Most philosophers agree that we only hope for things that we consider possible, yet not certain. Some guiding questions should get students to recognize this.  

Ask: Are you hoping for the weekend? That sounds strange. You are looking forward to it but not hoping for it, because you are certain that the weekend will come.

Ask: Are you hoping that I will dismiss class early? That would be nice, but don’t hope for it. It just is not going to happen!

You can then raise some critical questions.

Ask: Might we not hope for world peace, even though this is not a realistic possibility? So maybe we do hope for things that are impossible? Or maybe we are just hoping for progress toward world peace, which is a realistic possibility?

Ask: Might we not hope against hope? Isn’t this hoping for something that seems hopeless because it just seems impossible? 

2. Desire

Philosophers unanimously agree that we only hope for things that we desire. Here are two critical questions for discussion.

Hoping for what we don’t really, really want. Here is a complication that students are likely to disagree over. Imagine this scenario. You are on a diet, and you want to avoid temptation. You don’t want the ice-cream van to come by. If it does, you know that you will succumb to temptation. Now ask: Could you still hope for the ice-cream van to come by?

Some will say no: You can only hope for what you really, really want – or, as philosophers say, what you want all things considered.

Others will say yes: Sometimes we can’t help ourselves hoping for things that we don’t really, really want. It’s just that part of us wants these things, and that’s the part that sets off our hopes.

Shameful hopes. Here is another line of discussion. Do you sometimes feel ashamed when you find yourself hoping for something? What is shameful about it? Might it be that you find yourself hoping for something that you don’t really, really want, because you know better than that? 

In connection with shameful hopes, one could assign this interesting op-ed “Please, Mother, Enough” in the New York Times (May 19, 2014) by the Japanese author Minae Mizumura. This op-ed discusses expressing a wish for the death of an elderly parent whose care takes up a lot of your resources.

3. Imagining

Ask students to consider some variant of the following scenario. You like Lana Del Rey’s music. You would like to see her perform in a venue near you and you think it’s possible that she will come. But the whole thing hardly crosses your mind. Are you hoping that Lana Del Rey will come?

Students should come to realize that something more is needed for hoping than believing that Lana Del Rey might come and wanting her to come. This extra feature of hoping is that the prospect occupies your mind: You imagine, daydream, fantasize, fancy her coming, entertain the thought of her coming, etc.  

Another way to get at this is to start from a quote attributed to Aristotle: “Hope is a waking dream.” How does a dream point to something other than just (i) considering possible, yet not certain, and (ii) desiring?

4. Related Concepts

Explore differences in meaning between hope and related concepts. How is hoping for something different from (i) wishing for something, (iii) looking forward to or anticipating something, (iii) praying for something? (iv) being optimistic that something will happen?